Dump scow door



Oct. 7, 1941. A, NEVELlNG ETAL I 257,885

DUMP SCOWVDOOR Filed Dec. 31, 1938 3 sheets-sheet 1 Gear Oct. 7, 1941. A. NEVELING ETAI.

DUMP scow Doof;

Filed Dec. 5l, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IlIIIIIIil!!!4lllllllllllllifllllllllA FIG 5 V NTORS ffii Y @Za A. Navi-:LING Er AL DUMP SCOW DOOR Filed Deo. h:51, 1938 I5 Sheets-Sh'ee-t 3 Patented Oct. 7, 1941 UNI-'Teo STATES 1PMflezNT OFFICE DUMP scow DOOR Aloys Neveling, Chicago, Ill., and George Fred Driemeyer; St. Louis, Mo.; said Driemeyer assignor to General Steel Castings Corporation, Granite City, Ill., a corporation lof Delaware Application December '31, i938, serial No. 248,656

' 6 claims. (o1. 114-36) This invention relates to dump scow door structure adapted to support heavy loads of rock, sand and other material and to swing about hinged points into dumping position to discharge the load through the bot-tom of the scow hull.

It has beenthe practice to form such doors of heavy timbers secured to each other, and in some instances a steel framework has been provided with supporting surface formed of planks or plates carried by the framework.

It is an object of the present invention to construct a stronger door'without unduly increasing the weight of the same. f

It is another object of the present invention to construct a door which will be less likely to sustain damage from the dropping of rock and other material upon the door, or from the abrasive action of such material moving over the face of the door.

It is another object of the invention to increase the buoyant action of the water on the door so that lighter machinery and less energy is required to raise the door to a closed position after a dumping Operation.

These and other detailed objects of the invention are attained by the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a top view of a door structure embodying the invention, a portion of the structure being broken away to enable the drawing to be made upon a larger scale than if the whole door were shown and a part of the door shown being sectioned horizontally along the line I--I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section and elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1 and is taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

' Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3--3 of Figure l and showing some of the adjacent scow structure.

Figure 3a is a detail section taken on the corresponding section line of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a transverse section, largely diagrammatic, through a dumping scow equipped with at least one pair of doors embodying the present invention.

Figure 5 is a section corresponding to Figure 3 but illustrating another form of door structure.

Figure 6 is a similar section illustrating another form of the invention and is taken on the line 6 6 of'Figure 7.

Figure '7 is a longitudinali section through a portion of the door illustrated in Figure 6.

Figure 8 correspondsv to Figures 3, 5A and 6v but illustrates another form of the invention.

Preferably the door frame and load supporting surface comprises a single cast metal structure including a top web plate I and depending framing ribs 2, 3, '4, 5, B, etc. extending transversely of the length of the door from side to side thereof, and framing ribs l, 8, and 9 extending longitudinally of the door from end to end thereof. An additional longitudinal extending rib I!) extends along one edge of the door but is offset at intervals, as indicated at I 0a, to accommodate the lugs II for the hinge pinsY P which pass through lugs II and corresponding hinge links L suspended from the side of the opening in the scow hull and projecting into recesses R in the door casting.

The oiset portions IUa of the longitudinal rib at the hinged side of the door are continued beyond hinge lugs II to accommodate movement of the hinge pins into and out of functioning position. This edge of the door terminates in an arcuate member I2 arranged to bear against the side plate of the opening in the scow hull and to maintain a substantially closed joint. Restricted portions of member I2 form seats for detachable stops I3 which may be bolted in place to prevent the removal of the hinge pins. Horizontally disposed flanges I4, I5, I6, I1, I8, and I9 at the lower ends of the upright ribs reinforce the latter and 0 provide attaching and supporting surfaces for' other parts of the door.

For example, sealing timbers 2U may rest upon flange I 4' and be bolted to the adjacent rib l, and a buffer timber 2I may be bolted to flanges I5, I6, and I9.

As previously indicated, it is desired to increase the buoyant action of the water on the door, and one arrangement for accomplishing this object consists in constructing the door as an air and water tight box, which may be done by the application of relatively thin metal. sheets 22 to flanges I6, I1, I8 and I9 preferably by continuous welds, as indicated at W. The buoyant a'ction is further increased without substantially decreasing the strength of its framework, by providing openings 23 in the upright ribs.

Preferably topkplate I of the door is corrugated throughout a substantial portion of its Width andv length, as indicated at 24. These corrugations facilitate the pouring of a large casting of this size by accommodation shrinkage strains. This corrugation of thev top plate also increases the ystrength of the top plate, making the same constitute a structural contribution to the door whereby the remaining framing elements, and particularly the vertical ribs', maybe made lighter than would` be possibre rf the top plate `was a plain sheet and particularly if the top plate was omitted and separate sheets were applied to a skeleton framework which would necessarily have to possess in itself the strength required to withstand the loads and other stress producing forces applied to the door.

Referring to Figure 4, it will be seen that the doors are hinged at the outer sides of a central well or discharge opening in the scow hull, and the doors swing towards each other as they are raised into load sustaining position in which they are slightly inclined from the horizontal whereby their meeting edges are thrust together. The buoyant action of the water resulting from the hollow structure contributes substantially to the thrusting of the door edges together.l Obviously this buoyancy reduces the load on the lifting or hoisting mechanism 25.

Preferably lifting ears 26 and eyes 21 are cast integral with the door, and the door casting may include other integral elements such as lugs 28 for positioning the buffer timbers. It will be understood that wherever it is desirable other ribs and flanges may be provided for reinforcing the main members of the door.

Figure illustrates another door structure in which the casting 3!) corresponds generally to the door casting previously described, but instead of the imperforate plates being applied to the bottom of the door to form an air and water tight box-like structure, the large downwardly opening spaces in the casting are equipped with apertured plates 3l and the interior of the door structure is filled with granulated cork 32, or similar light material, after which the openings 33 in plates 3l may be sealed by applying heated tar to the cork surface, the tar hardening to hold the cork in place. The bottom plates 3l would be applied before the casting is filled with cork to avoid burning the cork when the plates are being welded to the casting.

The inner edge of the door includes a web 34 and a top flange 35 similar to the corresponding elements of the door sectioned in Figure 3, but the lower face of flange 35 makes an acute angle with web 34 to better retain a buffer 36 of rubber or similar compressible material. A series of spaced brackets B project from the lower portion of web 34 and form a backing for removable clamps 31 which mount a buffer supporting bar 33 extending continuously throughout the length of the door and inclined oppositely to the lower face of flange 35. As the bolts 39 securing clamps 31 in place are tightened, bar 30 is forced upwardly to compress and grip the buffer.

Buffer 35 projects far enough beyond the edge of flange 35 to abut a similar buffer on the opposing door and to be compressed to form therewith an effective seal between the doors which would adjust itself to any variation in the door structure and could be maintained tight throughout a longer period of use than the wooden beams which are subject to being crushed by repeated contact with each other and with relatively hard objects which may be caught between them.

Buffer 3S may be renewed by loosening bolts 39 without disassembling any of the other elements of the door structure.

Figures 6 and l illustrate another construction in which the door casting 40 is substantially like the casting previously described but the degree of buoyancy is increased by applying timbers or planks 4I of relatively light wood to the recesses between the upright ribs 42 and 43 0f the casting, resting the same upon the lower flanges 44 actress and 45. Members 4l may be retained in place by bolting wedging strips 46 to the casting. With this construction the members 4l which increase the degree of buoyancy may be made of balsa wood or other material which has little strength, and relatively denser and stronger material may be used for the securing strips 46.

The cast framing or body structure includes a wall 41 forming the edge of the door opposite to the hinge and the upper portion of this wall is inclined at 48 to squarely abut a corresponding member on the adjacent door. When the doors are raised, the thrust between the doors is transmitted through the extended abutting surfaces of the rigid metal members 48 which form a seal more extended and enduring than provided by the usual Wooden beams in the structure previously described.

Figure 8 illustrates another arrangement for increasing the degree of buoyancy and contemplates the provision of one or more separately formedsheet metal tanks 50 positioned inside of and protected by the door casting 5l and held in place byrelatively'light bars 52 or by other retaining means. If one of the tanks is punctured or otherwise rendered useless, it can be replaced readily without disassembling any of the door framing structure.

Other constructions may be adopted to provide increased buoyancy and obviously many of the details of the door casting may be changed from those shown and described withoutA departing from the spirit of the invention. The exclusive use of such modifications of the structure as come within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

l. In a dump scow door, a frame including an upright web along one edge, a flange projecting therefrom in the general plane of the door, a plurality of clamps detachably secured to said web but spaced from said flange, a bar carried on said clamps and projecting from the frame in the general plane of the door, and a buffer of rubber compressed between said flange and bar and retained thereby in assembled relation with the door and projecting beyond said flange and bar in the general plane of the door.

2. In a dump scow door having an edge arranged to approach an opposing surface when the door is closed, a frame including an upright web adjacent to said edge, a flange running lengthwise of the door and projecting outwardly from said web in the general plane of the door, a plurality of clamps disposed along said web, a bar carried on said clamps and running lengthwise of the door and spaced from said flange and similarly projecting from said web, a buffer member between said flange and bar and projecting outwardly beyond the same to abut said opposing surface when the door is closed, and adjustable means securing said clamps to said web and, as they are tightened, moving said bar towards said flange to grip said member between them.

3. A structure as described in claim 2 in which the opposing faces of the flange and bar converge as they project from the frame web to form a pocket with reentrant sides for securing the buffer member in assembly with said frame.

4. In a dump scow door having an edge arranged to approach an opposing surface when the door is closed, a member adjacent said edge extendingA atrright angles to the general plane of the door,an element extending outwardly from said member and having one of its faces inclined to the surface of said member at an angle less than 90, another element spaced from said rstmentioned element and extending outwardly from said member, and a buffer of yielding material between said elements and having its sides con-` flange extending outwardly from said wall and having a face at an angle less than 90 with said wall, a buffer member of yielding material having converging sides with one of the sides engaging said face, an element projecting outwardly from said wall and spaced from said flange, a wedge-like member between the other converging side of said buier and said element, and means for moving said wedge-like member toward said Wall to securely lock said buffer in position against said wall.

6. A structure as described in claim 5 in which the movement of the wedge-like member toward the wall compresses the buier member to bulge it outwardly to form a tight seal against an abut- 4 

